Italy is to hold a state funeral for the hundreds of migrants who died after their boat capsized close to the island of Lampedusa last Thursday.

This was announced by the Prime Minister Enrico Letta, during a visit to the island with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

 Mr Barroso and Mr Letta visited the temporary mortuary holding the coffins of the victims and met survivors and those who had helped in the rescue.

The two men were annoyed on their arrival in Lampedusa, with shouts of "disgrace" and "killers".

Speaking at a joint news conference, Mr Barroso said he would never forget the sight of hundreds of coffins. Saying, “This is something that profoundly shocked me."

Mr Barroso has however pledged 30m euros ($40m; £25m) of EU funds to help refugees in Italy.

He said 30m euros would help Italy to settle its refugees, and listed a range of measures the EU must undertake including focusing their efforts on the people smugglers and the countries where most of the migrants are coming from.

 He also said the EU parliament would be voting on a plan to launch Mediterranean-wide search and rescue patrols to intercept migrant boats.

The European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Cecilia Malmstroem, said on Tuesday she had asked the EU's Frontex border agency to draw up a "concrete proposal" for an operation that would allow better tracking, identification and rescue of migrant boats.

Lampedusa has been a key destination for such boats and many residents have long complained that the authorities in Italy and the European Union are not doing enough to deal with the thousands of migrants who come ashore each year.

 The sinking is one of Italy's worst disasters involving a boat carrying Europe-bound migrants from Africa.